By Cesare de Agostini. Alberto Ascari was the last Italian driver to win the Formula One World Championship, which he did in 1952 and repeated the feat a year later, driving Ferraris. A tragic yet banal accident at Monza on 26 May 1955 brought Alberto Ascari`s life and career to an abrupt halt, during which he had first raced motorcycles and then cars for Maserati, Ferrari and, finally, Lancia.